Quotes from Olly Alexander

If you're making something tangible, whether it's clothing, a song, a piece of art... when you create something that's outside of yourself you take a bit of the pain and it's released, you let it out a little bit. That's my Oprah Winfrey moment.

I don't know if there's ever a point where you go, 'Oh, I'm successful now. Look at all this great stuff I've done,' because I don't think it can be tangible in that way.

I just listen to true-crime podcasts, do some weights and pretend I know what I'm doing.

We used to have quirky weird bands that made dance music like the Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode and I think people have still got an appetite for that type of music-melody and darkness.

I hear bands say they don't know what country they are in at times. Now I understand because we sleep at weird times and are always in different places - but I'm not moaning. It's all fun.

I think the word 'twink' is pejorative. There's something endemic about the gay community where we praise masculinity more than anything else.

You can't have a nuanced debate on Twitter, it's just people shouting.

I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder but I definitely had a difficult relationship with food.

My lyrics are about same-sex relationships, because that's who I am. It was important to me that I felt comfortable expressing myself.

When I go on stage and perform, I'm an extreme version of myself.

Now, to be a mainstream act, you have to be firing on all cylinders on so many different platforms. You've got to have a social media voice. You've got to do promo on TV. You've got to tour everywhere.

I'm fascinated by technology and how it is changing the way we live and view our humanity.

The majority of the film industry is, like, obsessed with a ridiculous gender binary and keeping with this stupid social binary. Like, who cares?

We are traumatized by growing up in a world that doesn't really accept us. Obviously, we've made great leaps and bounds, but I think there's a tendency to force a narrative onto queer people that once you come out... you have to be really happy and really successful and proud all the time.

The first artist I really loved was Stevie Wonder. That opened the doors to other soul singers like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.

I identify as a gay man all the time, but I also like to identify as queer.

Let's let our men be happy, be sad, be trans, be questioning, be bisexual, be non-conforming, be feminine, be masculine!

As young as 10 I started fancying boys. It's a common experience but I just wished I wasn't gay up until the age of 18 or 19.

I think music can be therapeutic and a really positive thing, but that seeing a therapist is the best form of therapy you can get.

I'm a real left-winger. I fancy Jeremy Corbyn!

There was just this stage where I realised that people were listening to what I was saying and I could actually say something I believe in and, like... why wasn't I doing that? It's not because I think I have a responsibility as a pop star or whatever; it's because I think I have a responsibility as a human being.

I get a real thrill for being 'overtly queer' in my aesthetic.

School was like a hostile place. I just hated being at school. I think some people really thrive in that environment. I was a good student, but I just didn't enjoy school. I found it really tough.

I think all of the best songs are about heartbreak and love.